A Very TWEWY Christmas
by The World Ended With Me
Summary: When Shiki invites everyone over for Christmas, will their friends be able convince Neku to go?


_[[Insert Fancy Disclaimer here.]]_

**_A/N:_**Even though it's not Christmas time yet, I decided to write a small TWEWY one-shot. I like it, but tell me what your opinion of it is. If I can fix anything, please let me know. I was writing this at like two in the morning, so there may be some errors I didn't catch while proofreading it. Thanks.

_"C'mon, yo! It'll be fun! S'not like we can go to my place or yours for Christmas, and Rhyme is dyin' to get over to Shiki's house. Don't be a spoil-sport man."_

The words ran through Neku's head as he slammed his locker shut loudly. He really didn't want to go over to Shiki's house. Christmas was his _least_ favorite time of year. He'd never given Shiki a proper answer; he'd just shrugged his shoulders and told her that he'd think about it. Ever since Beat and Rhyme heard about it though, they hadn't gotten off of his case.

He didn't like Christmas, and he certainly didn't like Christmas parties. For Gods sake, he wasn't even a Christian. Going to this would only mean that he would have to go out, spend his money on some useless gadget for Shiki, and…

His thoughts trailed off. He_ did_ want to get something for Shiki. They'd been through a lot together. Spending those seven days with her still really meant a lot to him. She had been his price for week two as well, which had to mean _something_.

He had absolutely no idea what to get her. The only thing he really knew about Shiki was that she was really into designing. He could always ask Eri, but wouldn't that be cheating?

_Why am I even thinking about this? I'm not going and that's final. I don't need to waste my yen or my time on her._ He thought angrily and placed his headphones back on his head. School was over now, and he was heading towards WildKat to see Mr. H. He'd visited there ever since he got out of the final game. He didn't even have to buy anything-he'd sit there and talk with Mr. H for hours. It wasn't like anyone came to the café in the first place. Mr. H never looked for popularity. He was CAT after all. Technically, he had all of the popularity he needed.

Neku was so deep in his thoughts and music that he hadn't even heard Eri creep up behind him. The girl had reached up and grabbed his headphones off of his head and gave him a creepy smile when he turned to tell her off. Even now, just looking at Eri still gave him a shock. He always expected her to be holding that weird-pig-thing in her hands like Shiki did. At least he knew well enough not to call her Shiki, unlike Beat, who still got whapped on the back of the head whenever he did.

"Oh, Neku," Eri sang and held his headphones just far enough away from him so that he couldn't reach out and grab them. The look on her face really bothered him.

"What do you want, stalker?" he asked while holding back a grimace.

A grin spread over the pinkette's features, "Just to know where you think you're going."

Neku gave her a look as if to say, 'are you crazy?'

"To WildKat. Like any other day."

Eri put her hands on her hips, taking his headphones with them. He didn't dare reach for them now. The jeans she wore still showed off her hipbones, just as they had the first time he'd met Shiki in the station crossing. He was afraid that if he reached for the phones, her jeans would come down with them.  
"And why are you going to WildKat when your girlfriend is throwing a Christmas party for you and your friends in two days?" she asked. "I doubt you even got her a present. What kind of boyfriend are you?"

"Shiki's not my girlfriend," Neku said sharply. "And I'm not going to that stupid party."

Eri's eyebrow raised, "Oh really? If you're not going, then it looks like you're not getting these headphones back." she said while tossing them carelessly into the air, "They're specially made by CAT, aren't they?"

"Be careful with those!" Neku yelled and jumped for them, though Eri was exceedingly agile and got out of the way quickly, leaving Neku on the ground.  
"Oh, and how will poor Shiki feel when she learns you're not coming! You're all she can talk about, you know." Eri said in that perfect voice that she used when she was over-acting. "I heard that even poor Rhyme got you something for Christmas! And you haven't even thought about getting them something. I'm ashamed of you!"

Neku had gotten back up on his feet at this point and he sighed, now getting really agitated. "What are you trying to get out of this?"

He said it carelessly, though at the mentioning of Shiki talking about him made his heart thump faster in his chest. He hated it, but whenever something like that was brought up, he always felt this sort of…elation. He'd never felt like this towards any other person before-let alone a girl.

"What I'm getting at, is that you're going to the party, and that's final."

They had been shopping for hours. After getting his headphones back from Eri, she'd dragged him out of the school and into Shibuya's shopping district and forced him to get something for everyone. Buying things for Beat and Rhyme was easy. He got Rhyme a necklace from Happy Puppy that said,_ 'Follow Your Dreams'_ on it, and for Beat, he just got him a skateboard icon. One that he'd deliberately been pointing out for weeks. Neku couldn't really blame him-with his parents, he wouldn't have gotten_ anything_ for Christmas if he didn't have friends.

But when Neku tried to ask Eri what Shiki would want for Christmas, she only smiled and shrugged her shoulders.

"You're the boyfriend, get her something special!"

"_She's. Not. My. Girlfriend._" Neku emphasized. "What part of that doesn't get through your thick skull?"

But at this point, Eri was no longer listening. She was skipping around a store, getting a pleasant look from the store owner. It looked like she came here a lot. Neku didn't get so much as a second glance from the man behind the counter. Shopping in Shibuya was worse than shopping in the best, largest, busiest mall in the entire world. If the store owner didn't like you, there was a chance that you would get little to nothing that you were looking for. Staying trendy in Shibuya meant _everything.  
_  
Eri was up to something. He had realized it after he went around the store looking for her once. Every once in a while she would pick something up, examine it, smile, then set it down to go look at something else. The process repeated until Neku finally figured it out.

She was giving him hints. Each of the items that Eri picked up was clothing. Once she picked up a ring and walked over, dropping it in Neku's hand. "This. I wont help you anymore. I have to run. You better show up or your headphones will be in my possession._ Forever."  
_  
Neku took that as a full threat. He scrutinized the ring in his hand and wondered why this must be so special. It wasn't a fancy thing-it didn't cost that much yen either. He shook his head and decided not to question it so much. He bought the ring and as he left the store, he knew exactly what he'd do for the rest of Shiki's present. He flipped out his phone and dialed Eri, who had a smug tone in her voice as she answered in a chipper tone, "Yes, Neku? I said no more hints!"

"Listen up. If you want me to go, you'll tell me what kind of music Shiki likes."

"Yo, Phones, I didn't think you liked Christmas! Why'd you show up with so much stuff?" Beat asked as they arrived at Shiki's place two days later.

"I_ don't_ like Christmas," Neku responded simply, not willing to give any more of an answer. He really hated himself right now. He'd been up both nights trying to work with Shiki's present, and his head was pounding. He just really hoped that she had some kind of medicine to get rid of his headache there, or it would really be an unpleasant evening.

"Aw, Neku's a scrooge!" Rhyme giggled while walking up to Shiki's door and pressing the button to ring the bell. The girl was dressed in her usual attire-on of Beat's oversized sweatshirts and jeans. The only addition was the Christmas cap on her head that showed her Christmas spirit. Beat on the other hand, was wearing a Santa beard that made him look more ridiculous than he already did.

Shiki opened the door with a smile, and the two Bito siblings yelled, "MERRY CHRISTMAS!" as loud as they could. Beat even popped one of those things with confetti in them, making it rain colors everywhere.

It didn't do well for Neku's headache. They were invited into the warm house, where Shiki's mom and dad were introduced to the three friends that had never been in the household before. How Shiki even managed to get them to agree to this surprised Neku, since her father looked like he wanted to strangle both Neku and Beat for even being in the same room with his daughter.

Neku put the presents he got for everyone under the tree and sat down awkwardly on the couch as everyone conversed. Eri came in a few minutes later without knocking and immediately went to hug Shiki.

Somehow, as he had guessed from the beginning, Neku didn't feel like he belonged. Rhyme, Eri and Shiki were all talking about something they found interesting-something girly no doubt-and Beat was listening in with a goofy smile on his face.

Soon though as everyone sat down by the tree, Beat called him over, "Come on, Phones don't be a spoil sport! Hand out the presents!"

Apparently, not only was Neku good at handing out presents, but he was good at choosing them too. Beat practically flipped out over the skateboard decal he had gotten. Rhyme had actually gotten up and hugged him with tears in her eyes. Eri's jaw dropped when she saw that he had gotten her something too. Even though she was annoying, she deserved something for Christmas. It was just chocolate, but the girl had given him a round of applause.

Though their reactions had brought a smile to his face, he was really waiting for Shiki to see what he got her. He was embarrassed-he'd gotten her the most stuff.

"Oh, Neku…" she murmured when she opened the wrapping paper he'd spent thirty minutes trying to get around the present perfectly. There was a complete outfit inside that fit her perfectly. Eri had given Neku her sizes and styles, so he got her a full outfit from her favorite store.

"This is perfect…I can't thank you-"

Neku held up a hand, "There's more," he said simply while reaching into his back pocket and bringing out another, smaller present. Eri had a knowing grin on her face, while Beat and Rhyme just looked confused.

"Before you ask, no, I'm not stalking you. Eri helped me out a little on this one," he said nonchalantly.

Shiki only whispered his name again before standing up and hugging him tightly. "Thank you…so much…" she buried her head into his neck as she whispered the words, which sent shivers down Neku's spine. Before this, he had never realized how much he liked being touched by Shiki. After a moment, his surprised face softened into one of happiness and he hugged her back, "I'm glad you like it."

Shiki's father coughed, which immediately separated the two, both of which were blushing madly.

"What'chu playing at, Phones? You try'na get Shiki to be a music-lover like you?" Beat asked later when they were eating the dinner of champions; pizza.

Neku shook his head, "No. But I remembered one time after we got out of the UG that Eri brought up the fact that Shiki broke her Ipod. It came to me at the  
last second, I guess."

"Wow man, I'm impressed!"

A few minutes later, Eri stomped up with her hands on her hips, "Listen up boys! Rhyme and I are going to crash here for the night-no boys allowed! Sorry to cut it short, but we need the two of you out!"

Neku had no complaints-he hadn't wanted to come in the first place. He stood up to leave, but Beat and Eri butted heads for the next few minutes. Neku stood near the entrance waiting for Beat when Shiki came up to him while looking at the ground.

"Neku, I wanted to give you something, too. D-don't open it here, wait until you get home. I also wanted to thank you again for showing up. I really didn't think you would."

Neku looked down at the present, and he felt that warm feeling in his chest again. He wasn't expecting anything this year; he never even got anything from his parents. And the fact that it was from Shiki…

"I wasn't going to come," he said bluntly, "but a little birdie told me it was a good idea."

At that moment, Rhyme came running up with something in her hand-which was covered by the sweatshirt-and put it in Shiki's hand. The girl let out a giggle and ran away. Shiki looked down at her hands and blushed madly, realizing that the thing Rhyme gave her was a mistletoe.

Neku smiled smally and reached into his pocket. He leaned in really close to Shiki and pressed a kiss to her forehead, while placing the small, ruby ring in her hand.

"Merry Christmas, Shiki," was all he said to her before walking out.

_'Yeah,'_ he thought,_ 'I can learn to like Christmas.'_


End file.
